A Michigan woman has been sentenced to five years in federal prison for admitting she stole more than $4.6 million from a family while promising the money would help fund their daughter’s modeling career.
Woman Sentenced After Gambling Away $4.6M
Chanise Coyne, 46, of New Boston, pled guilty in May to wire fraud. She was sentenced September 22 and ordered to pay $4,669,962.76 in restitution. She will also be on supervised release for three years when she gets out of prison.
The case has come under particular scrutiny for Coyne’s use of much of the money for gambling and other personal spending, rather than the modeling opportunities she had promised.
Court documents show Coyne had a prior business relationship with the family and was aware of their dreams for their young daughter. She is alleged to have claimed to arrange modeling jobs across the country.
The family was told large up-front payments were needed for expenses related to those opportunities. Over about 14 months, Coyne took in more than $4.6 million from the parents.
However, there was no modeling event. Prosecutors said Coyne created fake emails, text messages, and invoices to make the opportunities look real. She also impersonated people who were allegedly involved in the modeling and sponsorship deals.
One purported communication was from a supposed Nike employee who asked for nearly $98,000 for a sponsorship opportunity. The girl was never entered into a modeling event despite the parents’ payments.
Modeling Scam Left Michigan Family Facing Severe Financial Losses
Investigators found much of the money was being used to feed Coyne’s gambling habit. Her defense lawyer told the court her gambling had increased since she began betting online during the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to her defense, Coyne made nearly $200,000 last year on an online slot-machine app. She then started betting bigger and bigger and lost the winnings eventually.
An attorney for Coyne said she then became desperate to get the money back and began taking money from the family, attempting to gamble her way back to the earlier win. However, prosecutors said the gambling and spending were part of a broader pattern of personal use of the money that had been stolen.
Court records show Coyne also spent over $200,000 on tickets to a Taylor Swift concert in Florida. She purchased a handful of premium seats for Swift’s October 2024 show at Hard Rock Stadium.
She spent money on more than gambling and concerts. Records of purchases included tickets to the Stanley Cup Final and a Royal Caribbean cruise. Her defense argued some of the costs related to travel and entertainment for inducements provided by online gambling operators.
The fraud had serious financial consequences for the family of the victim. Prosecutors said the parents exhausted savings accounts, borrowed from relatives, and sold assets while still paying for what they thought was their daughter’s modeling career.